Momentum
by KB-RC23
Summary: Post-episode fic for Watershed. "Commitment is a need to be with the person you love. A need that says, no matter how bad the weather might become, I'm willing to stay." Rated K. *Updated 5/14/2013* One-shot.


**Hey!**

**Here's a post-episode fic for Watershed. I've never done anything like this before, so please be kind. Reviews are love.**

**Disclaimer: ****_Castle_**** is not mine :/**

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_"Commitment is the igniter of momentum." -Peg Wood_

_"Love is not just a feeling. It is a commitment to be there no matter what the circumstances are." -Unknown_

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**[Momentum]**

It all happened so fast.

She had come here to tell him the truth, to tell him she declined the offer, but before she could do so he was the one who needed to get something off his chest first.

Anxiety washing over her, Kate watched him, listened to his words, and waited.

She had taken a seat on the swing next to him with the foresight that he was going to end things, that their relationship had met its inevitable close.

As she sat on the swing she couldn't help but think how wrong she had been to keep the job offer from him in the first place and how that very mistake was now tearing them apart.

She should have been honest with him from the start. Hell, she should have been honest with herself as to why she even considered the offer.

She went to that interview with the mindset that she was merely checking it out, testing the waters. No harm, no foul. It was just an option out there, no commitment necessary. Yet, the longer she'd thought about it the more she realized that it was something she desperately wanted. It would give her the chance to do more, to be more than who she was.

But, in the end, when she was in that interrogation room for what she thought was the last time, she realized she couldn't leave. She was home. The twelfth was her home; it was where her family was. She couldn't give that up. No job in D.C. was worth losing that.

It was in that moment; Kate knew she wanted something- _someone_ else even more.

_"Putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only..."_

Royce's words echoed in her mind, hitting her like a ton of bricks. He was right of course.

So Kate was taking that risk. She didn't want to look back and wonder if only. She wanted to look back and know she made the right choice.

And now, as Rick knelt down in front her on one knee, ring raised toward her, she knew she had made the right decision.

"So whatever happens, whatever you decide...Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

His eyes were full of unshed tears that were desperate to fall. The tone and seriousness in his voice proving to her that he was in this no matter which road she journeyed upon. He was going to be with her, by her side, through all of this, much like he has been for the past five years.

Rick, if he was being honest with himself, just needed a wake up call. And this job offer of hers was a huge one!

He needed to show her that he may hide his many insecurities behind his humor and wit, but he only did so because he was afraid. He was afraid to lose her and what they had. He was afraid of this relationship failing like his previous two marriages had.

He needed to show her that he was in this as much as she was, if not even more so. He only acted the way he did because he had settled and their relationship became plateaued. He didn't want to risk anything; he had been content with where they were. If they didn't risk anything, then they would be okay, right?

Wrong.

Rick knew that now. He knew that with life there comes risks, it was only a matter of taking them. If you didn't, then who knows what you may have missed out on? He wasn't afraid anymore, not in the slightest.

He's had the ring hidden in his sock drawer for months now, waiting for the opportune moment to ask her. Rick believed, without a doubt, Kate was the one for him. And it was only until his enlightening talk with his mother that he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

Love was always about putting a loved one's happiness before your own, wasn't it? Well, that was what he was doing. He was willing to risk everything for her, to put her happiness before his own. And if that meant she got the job offer in D.C., then so be it. He'd follow her anywhere.

Kate let out a small gasp as she stared down at the ring between his fingers, the sun glittering off the diamond in the center. Wow. It was gorgeous, and it was totally Kate.

She tore her gaze from the ring up to his eyes, tears now brimming with her own eyes as well. This was not what she had been expecting when she first walked up to him.

No, it was more. So much more.

All thoughts and insecurities she had about their relationship, where it was going, had completely vanished the second he knelt down. Here was the love of her life before her, asking for her hand in marriage, after everything that has transpired over the past few days no less.

Kate knew what her answer was going to be. She has imagined this very moment in her head for as long as she could remember, and yet, those dreams had nothing on reality. It was big and intimate and so _them_.

Sliding off the swing and onto the grass in front of him, she raised a hand to his face, a thumb ghosting over his cheek as she locked eyes with him. Her voice wavered, all of the emotion and joy completely overwhelming.

"Yes," she whispered, a small smile soon following as she saw the look of shock flash over his features.

She just said yes? Oh my God, she just said yes!

With the smile never leaving his face, Rick gently slipped the ring onto her left ring finger, his thumb tracing over the diamond. The tears were now falling down the couple's cheeks, both crying years of joy.

Bringing her in for a hug, Rick enveloped her lithe frame in his broader one, holding her tightly to his chest. He was never letting her go. Ever.

"I love you," he heard her mumble into his shoulder before he felt a tender kiss feather across his neck.

"Oh, Kate. I love you, too."

The couple remained in each other's arms on the grass for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes. Neither wanting the connection between them to be broken, both holding on for dear life.

Minutes passed before Kate pulled back, only to close the distance between them once again. She kissed him with all of the love she could muster, her feelings and emotions- _everything-_ was communicated through that kiss. Rick reciprocated this, laying it all out on the table and baring his heart and soul to her.

Everything around the couple vanished. There was no park, no swings. It was just the two of them and their all-encompassing love for one another.

"Castle," Kate breathed against his lips, her hands cupping his cheeks. "Rick...I- I got the job."

Pulling his face back, Rick studied her for a moment and watched as she internally fought herself. She had more to say. Curling a finger under her chin, he brought her eye level to him.

"You got the job," he repeated, more to himself than to her. "Congratulations, Kate. You deserve it! No one deserves it more than you d-"

"I turned it down."

"You..." Wait, she what? "You turned it down?"

"I declined the offer."

Rick was thrown for a loop; he had not expected this at all. Especially after everything she had said to convince him that this job was an amazing opportunity. Now she was telling him she didn't take the job?

"But why? I thought that this job was something you desperately wanted. That it'd give you the chance to do more."

She shook her head and cast her gaze downward for a moment, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips when she saw the engagement ring on her finger.

This was home. This was where she belonged. She was sure of that now.

Turning her focus back up to Rick, who looked completely confused as to what she had just confessed, she sighed.

"I'm staying in New York. It's my home. It's where my family is, where my friends are. And nothing- _nothing_ could take me away from that, away from you...I- I love you. I love you so much, Rick. And I'm so sorry I lied to you. Never again."

And before Rick could get a single word in Kate's mouth was dancing over his in a sweet caress. Not that he minded though. More tears were now spilling down their cheeks as they kissed, both overjoyed with what has happened.

They were closer than ever before. Their relationship had gained the momentum it needed to move forward. And there was no stopping it.

As she kissed him Kate knew with every fiber of her being that she was where she was meant to be...

She was home.

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_"I will follow you to the ends of the world." -Khaled Hosseini_

_"Commitment is a need to be with the person you love. A need that says, no matter how bad the weather might become, I'm willing to stay." -Anonymous_

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**There you go!**

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